Page 609 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 2019
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to the commonwealth minister, Minister Tehan, requesting the inclusion of secular wellbeing workers in the program. Unfortunately, this request was denied.
More positively, I would note that yesterday the federal deputy opposition leader and shadow minister for education, Tanya Plibersek, confirmed that an incoming Labor government would indeed allow this flexibility. It is important to note in this context that the discussion around chaplains in government schools has no impact on the employment of chaplains in non-government schools. And the program, of course, continues for those schools.
Student wellbeing support has changed significantly since this program was first introduced in 2007. And the ACT over recent years has made a substantial investment in strengthening student wellbeing support. There is an increased need for specialist and expert mental health support for students, which is why the ACT government committed to resourcing 20 additional psychologists by 2020. These psychologists play an important role in supporting students and school communities, particularly during times of grief and loss. And we are pleased to be on track to meet this important commitment.
We also strengthened our network student engagement teams. These are multidisciplinary teams that work with school leaders to build the capacity of schools and teaching teams to support student engagement. These teams include close to 100Â staff, including senior school psychologists, social workers, inclusion officers specialising in disability and behaviour support, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and specialist teachers, including those providing hearing and vision and support in our preschools. These teams support all these schools every day.
In recognising this investment in student wellbeing support in our schools, it is the government’s view that now is the time to realign wellbeing supports provided by faith-based chaplains under the national school chaplaincy program to a secular support provision to align with the ACT Education Act. Providing effective support for student wellbeing does not require faith-based workers. Every government school is resourced to provide for learning and wellbeing supports needed for their students, including access to broader directorate and community support structures. And this may include youth workers, social workers, community development workers, allied health workers and school youth health nurses.
Schools have flexibility in how these teams operate to ensure that they meet the unique needs of their school community. Every government school has access to school psychologists. Every government high school has access to a youth support worker. But not every school has or wants a chaplain.
We want every child to feel included and understood by supportive adults in the school community and we want schools to have the choice how they can achieve this. Across our 88 schools, there is evidence of great wellbeing initiatives taking place on a day-to-day basis that provide social and emotional support to students, parents and staff. This includes collaborative partnerships between schools, government and community service providers. For example, a number of schools have established
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